The MLK Tapes

Join “RFK Tapes” Host William Klaber As He Uncovers The 50-Year-Old Murder Mystery into the Plot to Kill Dr. King - Premiering January 10

Listen To The Official Trailer Here

WHAT:  According to the official story, on April 4th, 1968, a lone gunman assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. That man, James Earl Ray, pled guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison and for most people, the case was closed. However, there is more to the story, including a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the King Family that concluded Martin Luther King’s death was the result of a conspiracy involving multiple groups, including government agencies. “The MLK Tapes,” a new true crime podcast from the creators of “Atlanta Monster” and “Monster: DC Sniper,” will explore never-before-heard details about what happened to King on the day of his death, with rare recordings of eye-witness testimonies and new interviews with people who were there to reveal the true story of the plot to kill Dr. King.

The series will be hosted by William (Bill) Klaber, an author, part-time journalist and co-host of the podcast “The RFK Tapes”, who has been investigating the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy since 1989. While working on “The RFK Tapes,” Klaber interviewed a man named Bill Pepper, who spent forty years investigating the assassination of his friend, Dr. King. Pepper’s decades-long investigation included recording witnesses on tape. They revealed what they saw, and in some cases, what they had done. When Klaber heard this audio it opened up another opportunity to expose the lies in a 50-year-old murder mystery using  secrets that had been hidden on tapes.

Many little known facts about the case will be explored in the series, including the original recordings of witnesses who heard, saw or did something on or around the day Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, as well as new interviews from William Pepper, James Lawson, Arthur Hanes Jr., Isaac Newton Farris Jr., Joseph Brown, and John Currington. In the first episodes alone, many listeners might be surprise to learn that: 

• April 4th, 1967: Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech at Riverside Church in New York City titled Beyond Vietnam.
  • “…I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government.” -MLK
• April 4th, 1968: A year (to the day) later, Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
• April, 1968: On MLK’s final visit to Memphis, the all black, 8-person security team that normally accompanied him was reassigned.
• 1969: James Earl Ray pled guilty to murdering Martin Luther King Jr. Three days later, he recanted the plea. He never confessed to the crime and the evidence against him was never tested in a trial by jury.
• 1993: HBO aired a mock-trial of James Earl Ray with real attorneys and a jury. The jury found Ray not guilty.
• 1999: A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the King Family concluded that Martin Luther King’s death was the result of a conspiracy involving multiple groups, including government agencies.
• The goal of this podcast is to bring additional information to light that has, until now, not been widely discussed.

WHO: “The MLK Tapes” is produced by iHeartMedia and Tenderfoot TV, and distributed by The iHeartPodcast Network. The series is hosted by William (Bill Klaber), an author, part-time journalist, and co-host of the podcast “The RFK Tapes.” Klaber is the coauthor of “Shadow Play: The Murder of Robert F. Kennedy” and author of the novel “The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell.”

WHEN + WHERE: “The MLK Tapes” premieres on Monday, January 10, 2022, with the first two episodes readily available. Following episodes will be released each Monday, and will be available on iHeartRadio and wherever you listen to podcasts.

ASSETS: 

• Cover art
• William Klaber headshot
• Official trailer
  • Embed code: <iframe allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="200" src="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-mlk-tapes-91141955/episode/the-…" frameborder="0"></iframe>

About Tenderfoot TV

Founded by Atlanta director and independent filmmaker, Payne Lindsey, and music industry veteran, Donald Albright, Tenderfoot TV is a hub for creators and storytellers. The company launched in August 2016 with the release of the viral true crime podcast, “Up and Vanished”, which helped crack the decade-old cold case of missing person Tara Grinstead. Tenderfoot has since created multiple successful podcast franchises, including “Monster,” “Radio Rental,” “To Live and Die in LA,” and more, amassing over 650 million total downloads in just five years. Tenderfoot has partnered with major media companies, including HBO and Issa Rae’s label Raedio, iHeartRadio, Audible, Cadence13, and Netflix. They have expanded into TV and film, developing their IP for both fiction and nonfiction content. In 2020, Tenderfoot partnered with Oxygen to release a 6-part docu-series based on “Up and Vanished.” As one of the pioneer podcasts companies for Apple podcast subscriptions, they have ranked among the top performing channels with the release of Tenderfoot+, which offers listeners a seamless experience and greater access to their favorite shows.

Tenderfoot projects reflect a range of diversity across content to show genres. They launched their first political podcast ahead of the 2020 Georgia Senate runoffs, “Gaining Ground: The New Georgia,” and also have a satirical crime show that sheds light on social justice issues, their first scripted series titled “We Stay Looking.” The company has been recognized across the industry, winning numerous best in audio podcasting awards, including being a Pulitzer Prize finalist for ‘Audio Reporting’ in 2021 for “Somebody.” Founders Donald Albright, dubbed Atlanta’s Podcast Kingmaker” by Atlanta Magazine, and award winning creator Payne Lindsey, were ranked among the top ten “Most Powerful People in Podcasting” by Inside Radio, as well as named to the “Atlanta 500,” a list of the city’s “Most Powerful Leaders.” Tenderfoot continues to use their platform to raise the bar by telling compelling and important stories. No rules. No restrictions.